What?! Five Weeks In Guatemala!

After four quick days in the colonial city of Antigua, we made the four hour drive to San Marcos La Laguna on Lake Atitlán. The drive was beautiful as we passed through numerous Mayan villages and rural Guatemala. San Marcos/Lake Atitlán is located in the Guatemala highlands with the lake having an elevation of 1,562 meters. Similar to Denver in the U.S.A.

The above photo is the view of Lake Atitlán from our temporary home, affectionally dubbed the Eagle’s Nest. We love it. 🙂

Jungle living in Guatemala

So, back to the title – Five weeks in Guatemala?! What exactly are we doing here?

Simply put, we are getting our lives back in order. Traveling for over a year has taken a toll on us, both physically and mentally. Now, I know what you’re thinking; you’ve been on vacation for a year, your mind and bodies should be in the best shape ever!

The truth is we are way out of shape, overweight, addicted to technology and just plain unhealthy. While we have loved virtually everything we’ve experienced and every place we have visited, we have also indulged in the food and drinks along the way. On top of eating and drinking our way through most cities, we didn’t do much in terms of physical activity. Walking was not enough, which got us to our current state.

Living off the land in Guatemala

Enter San Marcos, Guatemala.

San Marcos is known for its healthy living among expats and visitors, which is exactly what we wanted before our return home for the holidays. We found a fantastic location on Airbnb (surprise, surprise) for our time here, which is located remotely and forces us to walk roughly 15 minutes down into the village. And, the walk back up is a workout in itself!

The space has stunning views and was built with the purpose of being self sustaining, which has worked out well so far. The garden area was designed and planted using a technique known as permaculture, which uses different plants, herbs and vegetables working together to grow and flourish. We have everything from coffee, lettuce, peppers, cucumbers, tomato, corn, oranges, limes, spinach, papaya, passion fruit and tons of herbs (basil, rosemary, lemongrass, turmeric, etc.) at our disposal to pick and use for meals.

And, living off the grid

To go along with a self-sustaining way of eating, the place is also completely solar powered!

It takes a little getting used to, but we are starting to enjoy when the house powers down in the evenings. Not having the ability at your fingertips to check your email or go online has been nice to be honest. Getting away from technology and focusing on reading, writing, or (gasp!) talking to each other, has been a pleasant end to our days.

Permaculture at work in San Marcos

While we are enjoying our down time, we do plan on getting out for some activities. Kayaking, coffee bean picking, taking a fermentation class and touring a permaculture farm are currently on our list of to-dos.

However, we’ll still be leaving plenty of time for yoga, reading and getting healthy in general. Work outs are a lot more enjoyable when you have this for a view!

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Meet Matt & Alana

Hello! We’re Matt and Alana, two Americans with a passion for traveling and experiencing new places. We are former full-time world travelers transitioning back to a U.S. way of life. Follow along as we figure out how to make the most of our vacation time and get the best bang for our buck in America and abroad!